Hey guys I've been playing this deck for a few weeks, I really enjoy it, but I'm having huge game 2 and game 3 problems. Could I get some SB and post board advice? I have 50+ games of experience on the deck but I swear I'm still not playing it correctly.
Some decks have established "ins and outs" for each matchup. I can't find any for Eldrazi. Could I get some advice on the big 5 (at my lgs anyways) and maybe some post boarding strategy?
That's weird because I am usually unfavored G1 and strongly favored G2/G3. My winrate is like 40% in G1 and 70%+ in G2/G3.
GBx
* Don't have too much experience vs GBx oddly, but should overall be favored
* Focus on threat density, i.e. side out fluff.
* Their main wincon will be some sort of card advantage engine like Liliana or Bob. When given a choice early on, use your removal on Bob.
* Play around Liliana's edict, i.e. don't slam a Reality Smasher on an empty board if you don't have to.
* EE on 2 can often be a 2-for-1
+ RIP (only 1x)
+ EE (not too many, you don't want to be too reactive)
+ Elspeth
+ World breaker
- Mana dorks (1-2)
- Skyspawner (all)
Infect
* Infect is actually a STRONGLY favored matchup for us IF we board in Chalice. Currently on an 8-match winstreak vs Infect. I have 2 chalices in the board. Most people run 4 if they run it at all but I think that's overkill, since you really only need 1, and you're not going to board out your 1cmc cards anyway.
* The key to infect is to land a Displacer. It's the most important eldrazi other than Drowner; even more important than TKS.
+ Chalice of the void
+ Blessed alliance
- Reality Smasher (all 4)
Jeskai (control variants)
* Jeskai is strongly favored for us. You shouldn't really be siding in too much.
* The key cards for them are Supreme verdict and Ancestral visions.
* Play around supreme verdict. Don't overextend if you don't have to.
+ Chalice of the void, on Zero (only 1x, and only if you expect 4x AV)
+ Elspeth
+ Consider stubborn denial (I think this is build specific)
- Eldrazi displacer (not all 4, but Displacer/drowner combo isn't that relevant here)
Affinity
* Again, Displacer is a key card in this matchup. It prevents ravager all-ins, it can unequip cranial.
* Steel overseer is one of their more problematic payoffs against us. It promotes go-wide which we can't answer as well with Displacer. Pathing it also gives them early ramp.
+ Chalice of the void, on Zero then on Two (x2, ONLY on the play)
+ Natural state
+ Worship
+ Stony Silence
+ Blessed Alliance
+ EE (0, 1, or 2 are all valid depending on the boardstate)
- TKS (take out all 4, especially on the draw, because they'll often have dumped their hand)
- Matter reshaper (depends on how many Master of Etherium they run)
- Spellskite (nonbo with Stony silence)
Burn
* Decent matchup, as we can outrace them if they fetch/shock too aggressively.
* Matter reshaper and TKS are our key cards as they usually represent early 2-for-1s.
+ Stubborn Denial
+ Blessed Alliance
+ EE (if you expect Ensnaring bridge)
+ Worship
- Skyspawner
- Drowner
Vs control decks don't you want to side out paths? They don't play many creatures, and you usually don't want to give them more mana to play with
Hi everyone, I've just gotten into this deck and it's a ton of fun, even tho when I took it to my modern Monday I got destroyed by Valakut, burn, and UW control. I had a couple of questions on sbing and wondering if you guys could help. Here's the list for reference:
1. I noticed most current lists have moved away from blessed alliance, is it not as good as it seems? Seems like a blowout vs something like infect and has uses in burn matchup
2. Speaking of burn, this matchup seems really, really frustrating to the point I added a Thragtusk to my board, any tips vs this?
3. World Breaker seems like really good sb tech vs grindy games but once again absent from current lists, are there just better cards
3. I have 3 chalices, are they worth throwing in to replace blessed alliance. It feels kinda scary to have no life gain vs burn, especially since we play white
4. There are some scary artifacts/enchantments like ghostly prison, ensnaring bridge, blood moon, and worship. Aside from worship, are we just relying on EE to deal with these?
5. Any spicy sb tech you guys have been running to deal with any matchups?
I was looking at the top32 lists of both GP LA and GP Charlotte and most people had Grafdigger's Cage (as their hate against Abzan Company and Nahiri decks). Very few Relic of Progenitus, Rest in Peaces and Chalice of the voids. That sounds good to me
Also am I the only one that has no real problem with Affinity and most blue based decks?
The only matchups that feel (and probably are) really unfavourable are burn, storm, ad nauseam and scapeshift. Valakut decks and UB Thopters deck also feel slightly unfavourable, but I haven't played much against those decks.
I have decent to great record against UWR, Affinity, Grixis, Zoo. I actually have a harder time facing merfolk.
The meta where I play is almost devoid of burn so I never have to pack lifegain. This gives me the opportunity to play more graveyard hate and combo hate like Slaughter Games. Casting Slaughter Games against storm, ad nauseam and scapeshift is usually game, every other time I usually lose. Luckely we have a way to draw lots of cards.
The new meta (where I play) is just as good for living end as the eldrazi meta so I don't see Living End as a bad choice.
I don't like Krosan grip too much as its 3 mana so it's the turn you want to cast living end. Have you considered natural state? For G it hits every problem artifact or Enchantment vs us, except for the fairly uncommon leyline of the void.I'd trade uncounterability to be able to hit a RIP the turn it comes down
Hi all! I wanted to start playing zoo, but I don't have the money to buy all of the expensive cards like goyf or a good mana base. I have been brewing a budget version of bushwhacker gruul zoo. What do you think of this list?
Hi! I used to run something like this when I was first playing, about a year ago. For gruul zoo I'd say run dryad militant in place of E1, or the ape if you like E1 too much, just because imo when I played it was super important to turn on jund hackblade on turn 2. I wasn't a huge fan of naya hushblade, but a card you could run is Lightning Mauler as he can really speed up your clock especially off of burning tree. Flinthoof Boar is also great in the 2 drop and you can haste him for an extra mana. Stormblood berserker can also be a beast although takes a little work to set up.
Imo you need some more removal than just bolt. Something like dismember should work especially with no shocks and fetches.
Try to get some non basics, like root bound Craig which is fairly inexpensive. Anyou GR land that can come in untapped is great. Too many basics means you will have to mull more because you won't have the color you need to make the deck run. You can even run pain lands like Karplusan Forest, but try to have maybe 8 dual lands, whatever they are
Now i'm currently playing 8 whack Goblins while i buy the remaining pieces for zoo and i'm wondering would Legion Loyalist be a better choice vs Reckless Bushwhacker? Is Loyalists attack ability more relevant vs Bushwhacker's pump/haste ability? I do see that Loyalist doesn't evolve E.One
The gruul zoo aggro is trying to go fast and wide while the Loyalist is better for things with more power to make use of trample. Typically your biggest creature in the new gruul aggro is a 3/3 wild nacatl where the trample isn't really relevant. You'd rather have the 1 extra power and haste effect
I followed this topic for a while and I really like playing living end.
But with the new ban list, the deck is on my opinion unplayable.
We struggle a lot vs very aggro deck (burn...), combo (storm, jeskai) and blue decks (thopter, grixis, UW...) which are everywhere at the moment in the meta.
On magic online or at my LGS, there is blue decks, very aggro decks and combo decks everywhere and our matchups are very poor vs theese decks.
Even if we manage to use living end at turn 2 or 3, it's really really hard to win.
I'm having a really hard time to win or even just play a magic game vs this kind of decks, how can I adapt to this meta? Should I just stop playing living end and wait for a better time to use this deck?
My LGS have a very dense meta, we have everything, and the best players at my LGS are all playing blue variant deck, counterspell are everywhere !
Hell, even infect now have counterspells !
I think i'm gonna play 4 choke in the side but I will still get rekt by combo decks...
I don't see how living end could stay a tier 2 deck...
- Ricochet Trap
- outburst on their end step, then outburst or demonic on your turn. Very hard to hold up 4+mana for counters
- attack their mana with Fulminator and/or avalanche riders. You could scare them into blowing counter spells on your creatures, leaving less counters for your cascade
- suspend living end, then if they counter it off suspend violent outburst or demonic into another
- consider goblin dark dwellers to let u play living end out of graveyard
Are you still playing the 4 of all merfolk and 4 snag list? Are you going back to spell pierce main deck with more blue decks popping up?
I do like your list but I feel like vs some kinda combo deck like LE,grishoal,Ad nauseum you're conceding game 1 without some kind of counterspell. And would you consider Kira again with all the control running around?
So does everyone really hate shambling vents? I know it CIPT, but most of the mtggoldfish lists are running some number. I like the utility of a lifelink man land, tho I haven't gotten to test much yet
Hey guys,i´ve recently started playing this deck with a Bw version,and i read most of this thread.Im having some problems with the current version of the deck, that i couldnt find any explication that convinced me,so i'd be pleased if any experienced player could answer me some questions.
1- Is Blight Herder this good ? He never impresses me,and even playing 4 relics/4 spellbombs/4 paths, he hits the tokens less than he miss. Even when he trigger,the three tokens rarely are good enough to justify the chances of failing. However,i see it as a 4-off in almost all the lists,so am i missing anything ?
2- Oblivion Sower is also underperforming.Lots of the time the ramp is just useless,since only the big eldrazis like Ulamog and sometimes Eye of Ugin benefits from it.And sometimes it just doesnt ramp at all.Am i just getting bad luck ?
3- Why no love for Reality Smasher and Matter Reshaper ? The Smasher is a big,fast and kind of resilient beater,that also is very good against Junk/Jund,kiling Liliana and going through Lingering Souls.And Matter Reshaper is almost a Kitchen Finks,often ramping/cleaning the top of the deck,or 2-for-1ing against removal..I tested both and they seemed better than Blight Herder and even Oblivion Sower. Any special reason for not at least consider them ?
1 & 2: I think herder and sower are extremely important. Are you not drawing ulamog enough? You can always fetch for him with an eye. Herder and sower are also big bodies on their own, which helps.
3: I love reality smasher in the deck (im using BR) and can't wait to add it. Testing will decide though. Matter reshaper seems like more of a coco addition than eldrazi, in my opinion.
What's your desk list? I cant find many running br. I just sleeved my deck up and going to try it for the first time this Monday at my store
The main things that set Merfolk apart for me are cantripping cards, counterspells, and more disruptive creatures. We also have the best lords.
I like how this deck can be both aggro and control at the same time. Most decks are either control with combo or mid range or balls to the wall aggro like burn,infect, affinity. Merfolk seems like one of the few decks that can go aggro when they need to and can do control/tempo when they need too. Few decks have the versatility of merfolk
4C Good Stuff: 2-0
Match 1 (12/05/2015): 2-1
- G1 land T1 Vial and beat opponent to death
- G2 end up 2 damage short
- G3 opponent mulls to 6 and I tempo a Doran for the win
Match 2 (12/09/2015): 2-0
- G1 game goes very long; stall with 3x Master of Waves then land Lord of Atlantis for the win
- G2 pressure early with Tidebinder; fight through an Engineered Explosives to win on tempo
SB:
+2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Æther Vial, -4 Master of Waves
5C Superfriends: 1-0
Match 1 (12/10/2015): 2-0
- G1 fight through Ajani Vengeant and Kiora for lethal
- G2 land a T1 Vial and rush opponent down (dodged Vraska activation with Vapor Snag)
SB:
+2 Negate, +2 Unified Will
-4 Spreading Seas
8-Rack: 1-1
Match 1 (12/21/2015): 1-2
- G1 land Vial with Lords and beat down
- G2 mull to 6 and Shrieking Affliction + Smallpox grind me out
- G3 opponent lands 2x Shrieking Affliction + The Rack
Match 2 (01/06/2016): 2-0
- G1 land 2x Lords early and beat him down
- G1 mull to 5 but opponent only finds 2nd Rack late; beat him down with Cursecatcher + Silvergill + Mutavault
SB:
+2 Hurkyl's Recall, +2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Spellskite, +2 Unified Will
-1 Æther Vial, -4 Master of Waves, -2 Vapor Snag
Affinity: 2-1
Match 1 (12/09/2015): 2-1
- G1 opponent mulls to 5 and plays nothing T1; I take advantage and win on tempo
- G2 I lose to T2 Master of Etherium
- G3 clutch Hurkyl's Recall seals the win
Match 2 (12/14/2015): 0-2
- G1 opponent lands T3 Plating and wins the race
- G2 opponent rushes with fliers; I never find 3rd land
Match 1 (01/04/2016): 2-1
- G1 open the way with Spreading Seas and keep Vault Skirge at bay with Harbinger
- G2 lose the race to Ravager and Etched Champion
- G3 key Vapor Snag gives me just enough for lethal
SB:
+2 Hurkyl's Recall, +2 Negate, +1 Spellskite
-4 Master of Waves, -1 Spreading Seas
Amulet Bloom: 1-0
Match 1 (11/23/2015): 2-0
- G1 opponent has a slow hand, win on incremental damage
- G2 opponent mulls to 5, I Spell Pierce his Hive Mind and Tidebinder Mage his Primeval Titan
SB:
+2 Negate, +4 Tidebinder Mage, +2 Unified Will
-4 Master of Waves, -4 Merrow Reejerey
Bloom/Scapeshift/Tron Hybrid Combo: 1-0
Match 1 (12/03/2015): 2-1
- G1 lose to Scapeshift
- G2 rush him with a lord + Cursecatcher + Silvergill
- G3 counter his combos and win on tempo
BG Rock: 0-1
Match 1 (12/14/2015): 1-2
- G1 mull to 6 but land a Master of Waves to surge ahead
- G2 mull to 6 and lose to a T3 Choke
- G3 mull to 6 and flood out; lose on tempo
SB:
+4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Æther Vial
Bogles: 3-1
Match 1 (11/26/2015): 2-1
- G1 keep a 1-lander (Cavern of Souls), never draw 2nd land
- G2 opponent mulls to 5, I pump my Merfolk higher than his Bogles
- G3 opponent mulls to 4, I Negate an Aura to win on tempo
Match 2 (12/01/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent assembles Voltron Bogle by T3
- G2 land a T2 Spellskite my opponent can't beat
- G3 got stuck on 1 land
Match 3 (12/10/2015): 2-1
- G1 opponent has godhand
- G2 land a T1 Vial and counter a Daybreak Coronet for the win
- G3 land a T1 Vial and counter Daybreak Coronet and Stony Silence to win on tempo
Match 4 (01/04/2016): 2-0
- G1 outgrow his 4/4 Bogle with Lords and take over the game
- G2 bounce his Kor Spiritdancer twice to surge ahead
SB:
+2 Negate, +1 Spellskite, +2 Unified Will
-4 Master of Waves, -1 Spreading Seas
Boros Kiki Combo: 0-1
Match 1 (12/03/2015): 1-2
- G1 lose to flood and grind
- G2 pressure him until lethal
- G3 stop combo 1st time, lose to it the 2nd
Boros Midrange: 1-0
Match 1 (01/01/2016): 2-1
- G1 get locked out by Isochron Scepter + Silence
- G2 bounce Isochron Scepter + Angel's Grace with Hurkyl's Recall and swing for lethal
- G3 land 3x Master of Waves and overwhelm opponent
Burn: 5-2
Match 1 (11/25/2015): 2-0
- G1 mull to 4 but Æther Vial into 2x Silvergill Adept and turn the game around
- G2 tap down a Grim Lavamancer with Tidebinder then Lord rush
Match 2 (12/07/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent lands a T3 Eidolon with an empty board state
- G2 land a Tidebinder, win on tempo
- G3 opponent lands double Eidolon, life total dips too low
Match 3 (12/09/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent lands 2 Goblin Guides and lots of Bolts
- G2 lock opponent out of R with a Spreading Seas
- G3 opponent gets godhand - T1 Nacatl, T2 Eidolon, lots of burn
Match 4 (12/14/2015): 2-1
- G1 get overwhelmed by Eidolon early; Master of Waves is not enough to save me
- G2 get 1 lander but 2x Vials and shut him down with Spellskite and fish swarm
- G3 opponent mulls to 6 and I turn the corner with Tidebinder Mage
Match 5 (12/21/2015): 2-1
- G1 stabilize and turn the corner with Master of Waves at 1 life
- G2 opponent lands T2 Eidolon and I stabilize one turn too late
- G3 stabilized behind a Spellskite and 2 Lords
Match 6 (12/21/2015): 2-0
- G1 stabilize with a Master of Waves at 1 life
- G2 land 3 straight Lords to turn the corner
Match 7 (12/27/2015): 2-0
- G1 stabilize with a Master of Waves and 2 Lords
- G2 land a T2 Spellskite and a T4 Master of Waves to flip the game
Defender Ramp Combo: 2-2
Match 1 (11/30/2015): 2-0
- G1 hit a Master of Waves for 8, chump-block several Defenders
- G2 fight through a Worship with Vapor Snag
Match 2 (12/07/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent lands a Worship and that buys him time for a x=15 Genesis Wave
- G2 I mull to 6 and flood out but opponent can't finish and I Snag to fight through Worship
- G3 I mull to 6 and opponent spams walls then drops Assault Formation and Worship
Match 3 (12/15/2015): 2-0
- G1 opponent mulls to 4 and I beat Worship with Vapor Snag
- G2 I bounce opponent's Overgrown Battlement 2x and win on tempo
Match 4 (01/04/2016): 0-2
- G1 opponent is able to blunt my attacks with Perimeter Captain and goes off with CoCo and Staff of Domination
- G2 I mull to 5 and opponent resolves Worship, which buys him time until he can win with Emrakul
Dimir Faeries: 2-0
Match 1 (12/09/2015): 2-0
- G1 land 2x Master of Waves
- G2 opponent mulls to 5 and I apply early pressure, then land a Master of Waves to win
Match 2 (12/18/2015): 2-1
- G1 land T1 Vial eventually followed by Master of Waves; win with tokens
- G2 keep a 1-lander without Vial; get too far behind
- G3 opponent Vendilion Cliques away a Reejerey and gives me a Master of the Pearl Trident; win with unblockable creatures
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate
-4 Spreading Seas
Dimir Mill: 1-0
Match 1 (12/30/2015): 2-0
- G1 land 3 consecutive Lords for the T4 kill
- G2 stick a Lord and a Mutavault and opponent never finds 4th land
Doran Abzan: 1-0
Match 1 (12/27/2015): 2-1
- G1 flood out and get punished by 3x Rhino
- G2 land Master of Waves to break open stalemate
- G3 mull to 6 but land 2x Master of Waves to fend opponent off and win with Lords + islandwalk
SB:
+4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Æther Vial
Elves: 1-1
Match 1 (12/02/2015): 2-1
- G1 opponent drains me for 14 with 2 Shaman of the Pack
- G2 opponent mulls to 5 and I blitz him with Lords early
- G3 opponent mulls to 5 and I counter CoCo with a Vialed-in Cursecatcher + a Dispel
Match 2 (01/04/2016): 0-2
- G1 both players get off to durdly starts but opponent uses CoCo to fill board
- G2 opponent stonewalls my early aggro with a Nettle Sentinel then uses Elvish Archdruid and CoCo to go off
Esper Eldrazi: 1-0
Match 1 (12/30/2015): 2-0
- G1 go over the top with a Master of Waves
- G2 both players mull to 6 and I get caught up in a grindy game but win on the back of bouncing Eldrazi for tempo and Lords
Esper Gifts Control: 1-0
Match 1 (01/04/2016): 2-1
- G1 fight through targeted discard to grind my opponent out
- G2 get blown out by a Wrath of God, which buys my opponent time to use Gifts
- G3 land an early Cursecatcher and use it for tempo beats
SB:
+2 Dispel, +1 Spellskite, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Negate
-1 Æther Vial, -2 Master of Waves, -4 Spreading Seas
Esper Tokens: 1-0
Match 1 (12/08/2015): 2-1
- G1 land Spreading Seas and 2x Lord
- G2 opponent lands Bitterblossom, Gideon pump, and Sorin pump - Dispel should have been Spell Pierce!
- G3 fight through 3x Inquisition of Kozilek and 1x Thoughtseize to finish game with 2x islandwalking Mutavault
SB:
+2 Negate
-2 Vapor Snag
Free Win Red: 1-0
Match 1 (12/15/2015): 2-1
- G1 get locked out by Ensnaring Bridge
- G2 counter Ensnaring Bridge and swing for lethal
- G3 grind out a win after Hurkyl's Recall on Bridge and opponent misplay on Koth of the Hammer emblem
Goblins: 0-1
Match 1 (01/04/2016): 1-2
- G1 opponent plays a T1 Goblin Piledriver with Simian Spirit Guide and I am stuck on 2 land
- G2 easily turn the corner behind Tidebinder Mage as opponent is stuck on 1 land
- G3 get stuck on Island + Mutavault and opponent overwhelms me with Goblin tokens
Grixis Control/Midrange: 0-1
Match 1 (11/23/2015): 0-2
- G1 lose a long, grindy game
- G2 get 2-for-1'd 6 times (including 4 Kolaghan's Command)
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Unified Will (should have brought in Tidebinders!)
-4 AEther Vial, -4 Spreading Seas
Grixis Twin: 1-0
Match 1 (12/24/2015): 2-1
- G1 I flood out and Grim Lavamancer + Tasigur take over the game
- G2 mull to 5 but win on the back of 2x Master of Waves + clutch Lord of Atlantis
- G3 opponent keeps an opening hand with only a Swamp and I win on tempo
Gruul Small Zoo: 1-1
Match 1 (12/18/2015): 2-1
- G1 land a T1 Vial and tempo my opponent out with Reejerey and Harbinger despite misplay
- G2 get greedy with Mutavault and opponent is a bit too aggressive early; stabilize at 1 but lose to topdecked Boros Charm
- G3 land a T4 Master of Waves and opponent can't beat it
Match 2 (12/29/2015): 1-2
- G1 get blitzed by godhand with Experiment One
- G2 stabilize behind 2x Master of Waves
- G3 stabilize with Master of Waves and Tidebinder Mage at 3 life but lose to topdecked Bolt
GW Hatebears: 1-1
Match 1 (12/14/2015): 2-1
- G1 miss a land drop on a 1-lander and fall behind because of 2x Path
- G2 overwhelm his creatures with size
- G3 opponent lands Azusa + Crucible of Worlds + Ghost Quarter combo but I have 3x Lords and Spellskite
Match 2 (01/03/2016): 1-2
- G1 mull to 5 and get beaten down by 2x Voice token and 1x Smiter
- G2 easily overwhelm my opponent with Lords
- G3 opponent lands Choke and Brimaz as I flood out
Heartless Summoning Mill Combo: 1-0
Match 1 (12/24/2015): 2-0
- G1 counter attempts at removal and win with beats
- G2 assemble quick beatdown plan and win counterspell war while presenting a clock
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Relic of Progenitus
-4 Spreading Seas
Infect: 1-2
Match 1 (12/03/2015): 2-0
- G1 take him off G with a Spreading Seas and beat him on tempo
- G2 opponent mulls to 5 and I land 2x Cursecatcher and 2x Lord
Match 2 (12/08/2015): 0-2
- G1 opponent lands 2 Inkmoth Nexus and I can only deal with 1 of them
- G2 mull to 6 and opponent lands T2 Blighted Agent followed by multiple Vines of Vastwood
Match 3 (01/04/2016): 1-2
- G1 get stuck with 2 Master of Waves in hand as opponent swings for exactly lethal
- G2 tap down an Elf with Tidebinder and bounce a beefy Nexus with Harbinger
- G3 durdle on T1 and get beaten by Wild Defiance triggers on a Blighted Agent
Izzet Midrange: 1-0
Match 1 (12/30/2015): 2-0
- G1 use Lords to slip past Pyromancer tokens and win on beats
- G2 hold up counterspells with Vial and win on tempo
Jeskai Control: 2-1
Match 1 (11/24/2015): 2-0
- G1 land a Master of Waves and opponent doesn't find sweeper with enough mana
- G2 opponent keeps a 1-lander and misses 2x land drops, win on tempo
Match 2 (12/09/2015): 1-2
- G1 rush opponent through Vial
- G2 eventually lose a grindy game to Ajani Vengeant and Celestial Colonnade
- G3 opponent lands T5 Keranos and I lose on value
Match 3 (12/21/2015): 2-0
- G1 Lord rush with Vial
- G2 land a late Vial and land 2x Dispel for the win
Jund: 3-0
Match 1 (12/06/2015): 2-0
- G1 get godhand T4 kill
- G2 Master of Waves puts me over the top in a grindy game
Match 2 (12/07/2015): 2-0
- G1 mull to 6 take opponent off red and win on beats
- G2 mull to 6 and get color-screwed but opponent dies to his own Bobs
Match 3 (12/14/2015): 2-0
- G1 land double Master of Waves to overwhelm double Goyf
- G2 double Spreading Seas locks him out of mana and I win on tempo
Knightfall: 4-2
Match 1 (11/23/2015): 0-2
- G1 early color screw and he goes off on T3
- G2 kept 1-lander with Vial, didn't find 2nd land
Match 2 (11/23/2015): 2-1
- G1 opponent mulls to 5, but rallies with a combo kill
- G2 Lord rush for the win
- G3 opponent lands Choke T2 on the play, but I win by playing through Vial
Match 3 (12/09/2015): 2-1
- G1 T3 combo kill
- G2 mull to 6 and shut down his mana dork with a Tidebinder Mage and win on tempo
- G3 opponent mulls to 4 and I win easily
Match 4 (12/09/2015): 2-0
- G1 I Spell Pierce a game-winning Chord of Calling
- G2 opponent mulls to 6 but threatens with big creatures until I draw 2nd Merrow Reejerey
Match 5 (12/23/2015): 2-0
- G1 Lord rush early and win the game easily
- G2 land T1 Vial and use evasion granted by Lord for lethal
Match 6 (01/03/2016): 0-2
- G1 mull to 6 and opponent gets me with a T3 combo kill
- G2 get color-screwed and opponent plays Geist followed by Knight of the Reliquary
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate, +4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Master of Waves, -4 Spreading Seas
Lantern Control: 1-2
Match 1 (11/23/2015): 0-2
- G1 get locked out early
- G2 lose a grindy game with opponent at 2 life
Match 2 (12/09/2015): 0-2
- G1 don't find any Lords and eventually die to lock
- G2 mull to 3 and bring opponent to 2 life with Mutavaults before lock is set in
Match 3 (12/14/2015): 2-1
- G1 mull to 5 and get locked out
- G2 tempo him out with Lords one turn before the lock
- G3 blast him with creatures; opponent never finds 3rd land
SB:
+2 Hurkyl's Recall, +2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Spellskite, +2 Unified Will
-1 Æther Vial, -4 Master of Waves, -2 Spreading Seas, -2 Vapor Snag
Living End: 2-0
Match 1 (12/10/2015): 2-1
- G1 get fast start and opponent is on back foot while I hold up Spell Pierce
- G2 opponent goes off on T4 and I can't recover in time
- G3 opponent goes off, but I recover with Tidebinder Mage and 2x Mutavault and win on tempo
Match (01/06/2016): 2-0
- G1 land 3 Lords and counter Living End to win
- G2 recover from a Living End with Tidebinder, Harbinger, and 2x Mutavault
Mardu Kiki Combo: 0-1
Match 1 (01/06/2016): 0-2
- G1 never draw a Seas effect and get stonewalled by blockers and removal while Restoration Angel beats me up
- G2 opponent lands an Isochron Scepter on Lightning Helix and value-plays me into the dirt
Merfolk: 2-0
Match 1 (01/03/2016): 2-0
- G1 I use a timely Vapor Snag as a combat trick to win on tempo
- G2 I use a Harbinger and a Spreading Seas as combat tricks to surge ahead
Match 2 (01/06/2016): 2-0
- G1 I out-aggro my opponent on the draw using 2x Lords as his Thassa + Lords fall 1 mana short
- G2 I mull to 5 but opponent mulls to 6 and I topdeck 2x Lords
Mono-B Infect: 1-0
Match 1 (12/29/2015): 2-0
- G1 I tempo my opponent out with Harbinger of the Tides + Lords
- G2 opponent misses 3rd land drop twice as I win with damage
Naya Kiki Combo: 0-2
Match 1 (12/07/2015): 0-2
- G1 lose to surprise combo kill
- G2 eat 3x Path and then lose to combo kill
Match 2 (12/24/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent Chords for Kiki then E-Wits into Chord for Restoration Angel while I'm tapped out
- G2 stop Kiki combo with Harbinger then swing for lethal
- G3 game goes long and I lose to combo while waiting for Lord
Ninjas: 2-0
Match 1 (12/02/2015): 2-0
- G1 land a Lord and kill with beats
- G2 T1 Vial into 2x Cursecatcher, Lord, 2x Mutavault
Match 2 (12/07/2015): 2-0
- G1 land 2x Reejerey and tempo opponent to death
- G2 opponent mulls to 6 and is stuck on 1 land; T4 kill
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate
-4 Spreading Seas
Orzhov Lifegain: 1-0
Match 1 (01/03/2016): 2-0
- G1 fight through 2x Path and 2x Thoughtseize to assemble board state for lethal
- G2 blitz opponent with Lords as he misses 2 land drops
Rakdos Midrange: 1-0
Match 1 (12/04/2015): 2-1
- G1 fight through removal and win on tempo
- G2 flood out and lose to Bob + Olivia Voldaren
- G3 win on rushdown
SB:
+4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Æther Vial
RG Tron: 2-0
Match 1 (12/04/2015): 2-1
- G1 overcome T3 Tron with Harbinger rush and Master of Waves
- G2 T3 Tron + Karn followed by Wurmcoil and O-Stone
- G3 play 3 Lords in a row and opponent doesn't find 3rd Tron land
Match 2 (12/09/2015): 2-1
- G1 win the race with 2x Mutavaults and 2x Silvergill Adept
- G2 opponent mulls to 5 but lands a clutch O-Stone to turn the game around
- G3 tense game; get opponent down to 1 but he stabilizes, then misplays a Karn allowing me to win
SB:
+2 Negate, +2 Unified Will
-4 Master of Waves
Simic Ramp Combo: 1-0
Match 1 (01/06/2016): 2-0
- G1 go over the top of a stalled board state with 2x Master of Waves
- G2 T1 Vial into Lord blitz and opponent has no removal
Simic Training Grounds Combo: 1-0
Match 1 (01/06/2016): 2-1
- G1 use islandwalking Lord and Harbinger to pressure them for lethal
- G2 opponent mulls to 6 and I commit misplays to let him back in the game
- G3 recover from slow start to blitz opponent with Merfolk thanks to Merrow Reejerey and Æther Vial
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate, +4 Tidebinder Mage
-4 Master of Waves, -4 Spreading Seas
Sultai Midrange: 2-0
Match 1 (11/24/2015): 2-0
- G1 Lord rush
- G2 keep pressure on and fight through Cryptic-Snap-Cryptic
Match 2 (11/24/2015): 2-1
- G1 eventually lose a grindy game to Tasigur
- G2 fight through a Choke thanks to flood
- G3 opponent keeps a 1-lander and misses 2nd land drop for 2 turns. Win on tempo.
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Unified Will (maybe Tidebinder Mage?)
-4 AEther Vial, -4 Spreading Seas
Tezz Tooolbox: 1-0
Match 1 (01/06/2016): 2-0
- G1 overcome a fetched Engineered Explosives with a Silvergill and a Harbinger
- G2 land a Master of Waves and grind my opponent out
Tooth & Nail: 1-1
Match 1 (12/09/2015): 1-2
- G1 lose to Ojutai's Command + a misplay (too conservative)
- G2 land early Tidebinder Mage and win on tempo
- G3 T4 combo kill even despite Tidebinder Mage
Match 2 (12/09/2015): 2-0
- G1 rush opponent with Lords and win
- G2 get 2 Vials and win on tempo + counters
Treasure Hunt Combo: 1-0
Match 1 (12/29/2015): 2-0
- G1 opponent mulls to 6 and I counter a Treasure Hunt with Cursecatcher to buy myself enough time to win
- G2 opponent mulls to 4 and I counter a Treasure Hunt with Cursecatcher while keeping Negate up
SB:
+2 Negate, +2 Unified Will
-4 Master of Waves
UR Delver Twin: 1-0
Match 1 (12/29/2015): 2-1
- G1 dominate game with 2x Reejerey
- G2 opponent sideboards into Splinter Twin and topdecks 2x consecutive Splinter Twins for the win
- G3 game goes long due to bad topdecks but I eventually find a Lord and swing for lethal
UR Prowess: 1-0
Match 1 (01/05/2016): 2-1
- G1 I flood out and opponent recovers from my fast start to take over with Pyromancer and Snapcaster
- G2 opponent keeps a 1-lander and never finds 2nd land
- G3 I slip past a field of Pyromancer tokens and Abbots with 2x Lords for lethal
UR Twin: 1-0
Match 1 (12/09/2015): 2-0
- G1 counter Splinter Twin with Spell Pierce then swing for lethal
- G2 disrupt Splinter Twin with Harbinger of the Tides 2x, then win on tempo
SB:
+2 Dispel, +2 Negate, +1 Spellskite
-1 Master of Waves, -4 Spreading Seas
U-Tron: 1-0
Match 1 (01/04/2015): 2-0
- G1 walk past Wurmcoil Engine with islandwalking Lords
- G2 delay Tron with a Spreading Seas and use islandwalking Lords for lethal; stop an Ætherize with Unified Will
SB:
+2 Negate, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Unified Will
-4 Master of Waves, -2 Vapor Snag
UW Control: 1-2
Match 1 (12/07/2015): 1-2
- G1 opponent eventually wins a grindy game
- G2 keep pressure on opponent and Dispel a Path for T5 kill
- G3 flood out and opponent lands 2x Supreme Verdict
Match 2 (12/11/2015): 2-0
- G1 land 2x Vial and rush with Lord + 2 Mutavault
- G2 land 2x Lord, fight through Detention Sphere with Merrow Reejerey + Harbinger
Match 3 (12/13/2015): 1-2
- G1 flood out (10/17 cards were lands)
- G2 quick beat down with Reejerey and Mutavaults
- G3 keep 1-lander and get too far behind; recover but opponents casts Verdict followed by Sun Titan
UW Midrange: 1-1
Match 1 (11/23/2015): 0-2
- G1 eat lots of counterspells, lose on tempo
- G2 draw 3 Harbingers but 0 Lords, lose on tempo
Match 2 (11/23/2015): 2-0
- G1 win a grindy game
- G2 keep constant pressure up, win on tempo
Valakut Titan: 1-0
Match 1 (12/14/2015): 2-1
- G1 rush with Silvergill Adepts
- G2 keep a 1-lander after mulling to 6 and lose a turn to tempo; die to Titan + Valakuts
- G3 rush with Harbinger and Lords; finish the game with Master of Waves
Overall, the deck has performed quite well. I've been particularly pleased with Tidebinder Mage, as my strong records against Burn, Jund, and Knightfall have shown. However, I feel that Hurkyl's Recall and Unified Will haven't been sided in enough to merit inclusion. Hurkyl's Recall in particular is sided in very little, and in all but one matchup (Affinity) would have been functionally identical to an Echoing Truth. As such, I plan to replace it with Echoing Truth. And while it can be argued that Relic of Progenitus has been sided in less often that Unified Will, it has been very impactful when it has come in. The same cannot be said for Unified Will. As such, I am in the market for another counterspell at the moment. Given that I'm most commonly seeking something that can slow down decks with combo or ramp elements (such as Affinity, Bogles, Elves, Infect, and Tron) and that I intend to test Ghost Quarter as mainboard disruption for everything from Eldrazi Temple to Stirring Wildwood, I'll be giving Chalice of the Void a try. The positive reports from the community regarding Chalice have also played into this decision.
Ghost Quarter sounds interesting, why that over tec edge tho? Also what do you think of having a 2 of sea's claim in the sideboard as alternative land disruption that also turns on islandwalk?
Vs control decks don't you want to side out paths? They don't play many creatures, and you usually don't want to give them more mana to play with
1x Breeding Pool
3x Brushland
3x Cavern of Souls
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Forest
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Plains
1x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Yavimaya Coast
Artifact (1)
1x Engineered Explosives
3x Drowner of Hope
4x Eldrazi Displacer
3x Eldrazi Skyspawner
3x Matter Reshaper
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Reality Smasher
2x Spellskite
4x Thought-Knot Seer
Instant (5)
1x Dismember
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (4)
4x Ancient Stirrings
3x Blessed Alliance
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2x Engineered Explosives
1x Eternal Witness
2x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Stony Silence
2x Stubborn Denial
1x Thragtusk
1x World Breaker
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net/
1. I noticed most current lists have moved away from blessed alliance, is it not as good as it seems? Seems like a blowout vs something like infect and has uses in burn matchup
2. Speaking of burn, this matchup seems really, really frustrating to the point I added a Thragtusk to my board, any tips vs this?
3. World Breaker seems like really good sb tech vs grindy games but once again absent from current lists, are there just better cards
3. I have 3 chalices, are they worth throwing in to replace blessed alliance. It feels kinda scary to have no life gain vs burn, especially since we play white
4. There are some scary artifacts/enchantments like ghostly prison, ensnaring bridge, blood moon, and worship. Aside from worship, are we just relying on EE to deal with these?
5. Any spicy sb tech you guys have been running to deal with any matchups?
Hi! I used to run something like this when I was first playing, about a year ago. For gruul zoo I'd say run dryad militant in place of E1, or the ape if you like E1 too much, just because imo when I played it was super important to turn on jund hackblade on turn 2. I wasn't a huge fan of naya hushblade, but a card you could run is Lightning Mauler as he can really speed up your clock especially off of burning tree. Flinthoof Boar is also great in the 2 drop and you can haste him for an extra mana. Stormblood berserker can also be a beast although takes a little work to set up.
Imo you need some more removal than just bolt. Something like dismember should work especially with no shocks and fetches.
Try to get some non basics, like root bound Craig which is fairly inexpensive. Anyou GR land that can come in untapped is great. Too many basics means you will have to mull more because you won't have the color you need to make the deck run. You can even run pain lands like Karplusan Forest, but try to have maybe 8 dual lands, whatever they are
The gruul zoo aggro is trying to go fast and wide while the Loyalist is better for things with more power to make use of trample. Typically your biggest creature in the new gruul aggro is a 3/3 wild nacatl where the trample isn't really relevant. You'd rather have the 1 extra power and haste effect
- Ricochet Trap
- outburst on their end step, then outburst or demonic on your turn. Very hard to hold up 4+mana for counters
- attack their mana with Fulminator and/or avalanche riders. You could scare them into blowing counter spells on your creatures, leaving less counters for your cascade
- suspend living end, then if they counter it off suspend violent outburst or demonic into another
- consider goblin dark dwellers to let u play living end out of graveyard
I do like your list but I feel like vs some kinda combo deck like LE,grishoal,Ad nauseum you're conceding game 1 without some kind of counterspell. And would you consider Kira again with all the control running around?
What's your desk list? I cant find many running br. I just sleeved my deck up and going to try it for the first time this Monday at my store
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
2x Blood Crypt
2x Bloodstained Mire
4x Eldrazi Temple
4x Eye of Ugin
2x Mountain
2x Sulfurous Springs
2x Swamp
3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Nihil Spellbomb
4x Relic of Progenitus
4x Blight Herder
2x Endless One
4x Oblivion Sower
2x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4x Wasteland Strangler
2x Go for the Throat
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Crumble to Dust
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal
2x Pithing Needle
2x Shattering Spree
1x Slaughter Games
1x Slaughter Pact
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Vampiric Link
I like how this deck can be both aggro and control at the same time. Most decks are either control with combo or mid range or balls to the wall aggro like burn,infect, affinity. Merfolk seems like one of the few decks that can go aggro when they need to and can do control/tempo when they need too. Few decks have the versatility of merfolk
Ghost Quarter sounds interesting, why that over tec edge tho? Also what do you think of having a 2 of sea's claim in the sideboard as alternative land disruption that also turns on islandwalk?